Optical proximity detectors are often included in systems, such as consumer products and/or other types of products, to detect the presence of obstacles or other objects within one or more field-of-views (FOVs), so that the systems can respond to such detections. For example, an autonomous robot may use an optical proximity detector to detect when an obstacle is in its way, so that they robot may move around the obstacle. For another example, a vehicle may include an optical proximity detector to notify a driver when the driver is driving to close to another vehicle, or when an object is behind the vehicle when the vehicle is backing up. For still another example, an optical proximity detector can be used to help control a driverless vehicle. These are just a few examples, which are not meant to be all encompassing.
It is desirable to reduce the power consumed by optical proximity detectors and to reduce the size and cost of optical proximity detectors, especially when optical proximity detectors are used in mobile devices that are battery powered and/or relatively small in size.